Michael Moore: 'It's the end of capitalism as we know it'

Michael Moore: 'It's the end of capitalism as we know it'

rawstory.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

The "Big Three" bailout is currently hot news, and something that should be discussed.
The problem is that there is a stink of hypocrisy about plans to oppose a bailout.

If the automakers have got themselves into a mess of their own making, then so did the banks - but it's the banks who get bailed out, because they are seen as being more important.
This may have an element of truth, but it's also true that the banks got money because they had the right friends in the right places, which resulted in probably the biggest taxpayer ripoff of all time.

Tell autoworkers that bankers getting a multi-million dollar bonus are more important they are.

It is also arguable that more jobs will be lost if the automakers go under - but it is the banking industry that is at fault for all of this with their incessant greed, and their philosophy that an individual can never have too much money.

There's also the question of profligate waste and conspicuous consumption by western nations - not just america - for which the bill is now becoming due.

This philosophy was all very well in the years after WWII, when economic revitalisation was essential to growth and the changeover from a wartime economy to a peacetime one, with the added expense of the re-building programme in Europe, BUT I firmly believe the time has come to lower our sights on what we consider to be an acceptable standard of living, and count ourselves lucky that we had so many good years.

rawstory.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I was with Moore until he said it wasn't the Unions faults...GM, Ford, and Chrysler pay 2-3 times more in wages and healthcare than any other car maker. To say the Unions aren't at fault is a pretty dumb thing to say, especially if you consider that GM is STILL the number one car maker in the WORLD, but are still bleeding cash.

[edit on 21-11-2008 by yellowcard]

reply to post by yellowcard

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Star for that. I agree with you 100%. Thousands of dollars of the price of a car just goes to pay for retired UAW pensions.

Toyotas are made in America and their workers are paid very well. Why is Toyota doing great business even in tough times? And why do Toyotas have to be severely punished to break down? Duh, their workers don't have them by the huevos.

reply to post by budski

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Are you kidding me? Honestly, budski I don't even know what to say to that I find it so horrible. Just accept a lower standard? Why don't we all just crawl in a hole in die then. Maybe I misunderstood what you meant...

reply to post by sc2099

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Nope, with china and india coming up fast, the west is going to have to accept that the days of the throwaway society are gone, probably for good.

OMG!!! OMG!! Somebody help me.... I actually agree with most of what Michael Moore said. It's gotta be a mistake. Please .. someone tell me that I don't agree with that freak'n idiot Michael Moore.

Oh god .. I'm gunna' be sick.

edited to add - on the issue of Capitalism and how its' the end of Capitalism and the USA we all know and love - check this article out - READ THIS YIKES!

[edit on 11/22/2008 by FlyersFan]

So why has everybody glossed over the fact that GM wanted to also play the role of a finance company? A greedy desire that exposed them, a car company, to the subprime mortgage mess.

Nobody, even on this board, has mentioned that one little detail. GM is on the hook for more than just bad cars. Remember they were in talks to sell the rest of their finance division to Cerebus, who owns Chrysler, in return for purchase of all or part of Chrysler. Sorry, that deal hadn't gone through yet, so GM is burning heavy cash on its finance side. Thats one reason why they are bleeding cash.

They at least should have asked the government for some bailout money on that. They might have gotten away with that.

That's a good point, GM should spin off their GM Capital division and make it a bank holding company so they can access the Fed window, then they could loan cash to GM... but let's face it, Chrysler, and Ford who have little to no subprime exposure are still in trouble, the biggest issue is the greedy unions. I am not against unions, I'm against unions that are greedy, steal their employees money and lobby to Congress to punish companies.

reply to post by FlyersFan

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OH MY GOD

FlyersFan, are you feeling OK? I would get to the doctor and have your tapwater tested.

srsly.

But it isn't the unions fault. What do they have control over? Nothing. Do you even know the purpose of a union? It's to look out for the worker because corporations like this generally don't. And if we had national health care program now we as the workers wouldn't have to worry about that would we? Sorry hon but Michael Moore is correct.

How is he an idiot? Because you disagree with him sometimes? Well in that case you're an idiot because I disagree with you on things I'm sure. Sorry but that's a moron thing to say that someone is an idiot because you disagree with them sometimes. There's a difference between disagreeing and being wrong.

Hmm very interesting. I didn't know that. It is some food for fault. And of course the unions have nothing to do with that I'm pretty sure....

It is called a business plan. A good business plan brings good results. A bad business plan leads to a modern day GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Moore is correct in what he says but people have been saying this for years. No new news here. As far as the union, I say they can be good and bad.

FlyersFan, that article is a very good find! I think it deserves its own thread!